When it came to Georgiana's new guardian, the first person to mention was Maria Edgeworth. At the turn of the century in 1800, she published her first novel, Ormond, and quickly became a star. In contrast stood her noisy, red-faced father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, who liked to dance Irish jigs around the table. Most people knew him as an educator, inventor, and politician. He was the first to bring the telegraph to Ireland, though the telegraphic language he invented was impractical. In his own words, it was like a Giant waving his long arms and speaking with clumsy, thick fingers.
Few knew that he had been a member of the Lunar Society. Maria, however, did not regard Richard as a hero or an industrial leader. The last time her father had been mentioned, she had been deeply embarrassed—not merely because the wife from his fourth marriage was a year younger than Maria herself.
Honestly, becoming Georgiana's guardian under such circumstances took a certain amount of nerve. Yet after Richard signed those documents on Georgiana's behalf, it seemed to signify one thing: the people of France would not invade Ireland as the rumors claimed. Instead, Ireland had acquired an "enclave" in France.
Georgiana could not imagine how Bonaparte had communicated with Edgeworth. In any case, Edgeworth was an Irish member of Parliament, and she hoped he understood what this meant.
It was also because he had signed those documents that Richard became a new passenger aboard the Pomona. Then they set off from Calais for Ostend, their first stop in Belgium. Next they would go to Bruges, then from Bruges to Ghent and Antwerp. The original plan had not included the Netherlands, but at Georgiana's temporary request, they added it. After paying respects to Rembrandt, they would travel from Antwerp to